


Paper Flowers

by space0bongo



Category: Prison Break
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-23
Updated: 2017-02-23
Packaged: 2018-09-26 13:23:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9899045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/space0bongo/pseuds/space0bongo
Summary: "Well would you look at that. Governor's daughter married to a felon...""He had a breakdown," Katie rushes to her boss' defence. "I don't know the details, she doesn't like to talk about it, but from what I understand they had it good. Really good. Then the guy's brother got himself onto death row and he lost it." She sighs when Bellick grins. "Don't give her shit about it, Brad. I mean it."The drabble AU where Michael Schofield married Sara instead of Nika to get the key card, fell in love in the process, and how that might have changed things. Told from Bellick and Katie's POV.





	

"So, is it true?" Bellick asks Katie as they watch Dr Schofield nee Tancredi walk past them after her debriefing with the warden.

"Is what true?"

"You know what I mean."

Katie sighs, rubs her temples with shaking fingers. She doesn't say anything but apparently that's answer enough because Bellick laughs.

"Well would you look at that. Governor's daughter married to a felon..."

"He had a breakdown," Katie rushes to her boss' defence. "I don't know the details, she doesn't like to talk about it, but from what I understand they had it good. Really good. Then the guy's brother got himself onto death row and he lost it." She sighs when Bellick grins. "Don't give her shit about it, Brad. I mean it."

"Oh I'm not gonna give her shit about anything," his smile grows sharkish. Disgusted that she could be friends with such an idiot, Katie storms back into the infirmary.

-/-

As one of only a handful of beautiful women at Fox River, and the only married one, the guards have often thought long and hard about what Dr Tancredi's husband might be like.

Schofield, Bellick thinks, is a deep disappointment. He might be as tall and good looking as they all expected but he's as weedy as shit. He has all these ugly ass tattoos all over his body, and he doesn't lose his temper. Not even when Bellick makes insinuations about him and Tancredi. What kind of man doesn't rise up to defend his wife?

"We usually let the married inmates use the conjugal room once a month, but the warden doesn't think it'd be appropriate in your case. " Bellick grins as he pushes Schofield into the cell he's going to be sharing with Sucre. "But if you tell Sara to treat me real nice, I might be persuaded to let you use it a couple times a year. You know, Christmases, birthdays, anniversaries..."

Schofield frowns but doesn't say anything, just shoves his hands in his pockets like Bellick's talking about someone else's wife. Bellick sneers in disgust. "You think about it, Schofield. Offer won't be on the table forever."

-/-

"How are you?" Katie overhears Schofield from behind the privacy screen. She's completing some paperwork that needs to be submitted today but she can't help but eavesdrop - her ex always did say she was a nosy bitch.

"I'm fine." A sigh. Katie's been around the block enough to recognise the sound of kissing. It's not strictly allowed but Katie figures if the warden didn't want that to happen, he would've paid to hire a second doctor for Schofield like how the state recommended. "Baby's fine too."

The pen falls from Katie's hand at the comment. She had no idea her boss was pregnant.

"I made you something,"

"Michael..." another sigh, "It's beautiful."

"Not as beautiful as you."

Sara emerges from the screen after that with tears in her eyes, and asks the guard by the door to take Schofield away. Katie almost misses the paper flower in Sara's hand. It's one of those Japanese things, Katie can't remember the name; it's pretty enough she supposes but beautiful?

"How far along are you?" Katie asks when she knows for sure the guard is out of hearing distance.

"Twelve weeks," she looks so tired. "You got the STI panels back for Bagwell?"

"Gonorrhea," Katie grimaces, "Brad said we should test his cell mate too. Apparently they're close in the Biblical sense of the word."

"He's eighteen."

"Aint stopped Bagwell before," Katie watches as Sara returns to her desk. "You'll be okay." She says quietly. "Being a single mom ain't that bad. Not when you get used to it."

Sara nods once, ducks her head, and Katie doesn't hear a peep from her the whole day.

-/-

"You guys meet at college?" Katie asks Sara one morning apropos of nothing. Sara pauses while writing up her notes but otherwise doesn't react.

"AA meeting actually," she says quietly, dropping her pen to play with the diamond solitaire on her finger. "It was a whirlwind romance." She smiles reluctantly. "One minute we were awkwardly flirting over Gandhi quotes and the next I was pregnant." She laughs ruefully. "We've only been married a month."

"Sounds like it moved really fast."

"It didn't feel like it at the time," she says quietly, "it felt just right."

Katie doesn't know what to say to that. She's not one for rushing in headlong into relationships. She likes to take her time to get to know someone - a side effect she supposes of having kids young.

"Bellick owes me a favour," Katie says eventually, "If you ever need any private time with your husband, let me know and I'll cash it in."

The smile Sara gives to her is almost shy.

"Thanks, Katie."

"Any time."

-/-

Katie takes a personal day during the riot. When she's finally able to get into work, Sara's nowhere to be found.

"Warden gave her the week off," Bellick sneers when they meet for lunch. "If you ask me I say the governer forced him. Nobody else got a week's paid leave."

"She's pregnant," Katie frowns, picking at their shared fries. Bellick chokes on his burger.

"Seriously?" He looks disgusted. "I don't see how she can stand to let that guy touch her."

"He wasn't always a criminal," she says breezily dropping a ten dollar note onto the table. "I've got to head back. I'm heading home early today. Rosie's got a performance ."

"Yeah?" Bellick grins. "Is it the nutcracker again? She was good at that."

"Romeo and Juliet." Katie kisses his cheek. "See you later, Brad."

"Yeah you too."

-/-

"I found it amongst your things," Katie overhears from behind the privacy screen the next time Schofield's in for his insulin shot. "Bellick said it was okay for you to have it. Presuming you still want it of course."

"Of course I want it," Schofield's voice sounds thick with tears. Katie grimaces but doesn't move to give them any privacy - it's not allowed, not even when the correctional worker is married to an inmate. "I wish things could've been different."

"Maybe they worked out exactly how they should have." Sara teases, "I see much more of you now than I ever did before."

Schofield laughs. "Since when did you become so optimistic?"

"I had help," Katie hears them kiss and then the privacy screen is pulled back and Sara returns to her desk briefly to write up her notes. Schofield, Katie notices, is clutching one of those fancy sonogram photos mounted on plastic, like a key card - some of the fancier hospitals give them out nowadays. But his eyes are all for his wife - they rove over her hungrily as if he doesn't see her every damned day for his shots.

Katie wonders what that would be like, loving someone so much that you can't get enough of them. She can't imagine it.

-/-

When Lincoln Burrows escapes with six other inmates, the very first thing that happens is they bring Katie and Sara in for questioning. Katie doesn't get why. It's not like Schofield escaped with them.

"Burrows is Schofield's brother," Bellick sneers impatiently when Katie tells him for the thousandth time that she didn't see Sara do or say anything suspicious. "She must know something. How was the infirmary door even unlocked?"

"One of the new nurses lost her keys last night," Katie rubs her eyes, "She's already been questioned. Hell, you questioned her."

"Katie, I swear to God if I find out that you're hiding something from me..."

"I'm not, okay." Katie sighs. "I didn't see Sara put a foot wrong, I swear it."

"But Schofield..."

"If you want to question Schofield go right ahead, but trust me. Sara isn't involved in any of it."

-/-

The morning after the escape Schofield comes into the infirmary with a black eye, presumed broken ribs, and what's definitely a dislocated shoulder.

Katie purses her lips at the sight but helps Sara as silently as a ghost.

"You gonna tell me what happened?" Sara asks tearfully after they set Schofield's shoulder. When he doesn't say anything she throws her stethoscope across the room in anger.

"Sara..."

"How can I help you if you keep secrets from me, Michael?" She hesitates at the sight of Katie. "I know you didn't get these injuries from another prisoner."

"It doesn't matter how I got them," he pulls Sara towards him by the wrist. "I'm with you now. That's all that counts."

"They can't keep blaming you for Lincoln's escape. You still have five years of this shit to get through." Sara rests her forehead against his and Katie takes that as her cue to retrieve the stethoscope. It's by the bin on the other side of the room. "Tell me who it was, Mike. Tell me and I'll get my dad to request a transfer."

While her back is turned, Katie hears a muffled whisper too faint to be overheard and then a kiss.

-/-

A week after the escape Sara approaches Katie with a barely stifled grin on her face.

"You think you could cash that favour in for me?" She looks so happy Katie finds it shocking. "It's our anniversary. I wanted," she bites her lip, "I wanted to surprise him." She pulls out a letter. "He got a transfer to a medium security prison out in Arizona." She beams. "I'll be able to join him too. Their last doctor retired a few months ago and they were never able to replace her."

"Congratulations," Katie grins, happy for her. "Arizona's nice. It's as hot as Hell, but better hot than cold like this place."

"Yeah," Sara beams. "I can't wait."

-/-

Sara stops coming to work a week after Schofield gets his transfer. Katie does all the usual former co-worker things. She emails her from time to time, adds her on that Facebook site her daughter keeps talking about, and likes all her photos.

Sara has a son, names him Michael Junior, and posts photos of him nearly every single day. After about a year Schofield starts showing up in the photos too, and the setting changes from Arizona to somewhere else hot. Then the photos stop. The witty posts stop. There's nothing for over a year but Katie has a life of her own, has kids, so she doesn't think twice of it until one morning when she switches on the TV and Schofield's on the news with Burrows making a press statement.

-/-

 

 


End file.
